Sister Peterson Week 42

I cannot believe Christmas is in like 2 days!! Woop woop! I hope everyone has good plans and gets good gifts!! 

At the beginning of the week we performed our shadow play like a trillion times at the Kanazawa train station! It was even more special than the first time we performed it! Even though I moved to one of the coldest zones in the mission, I am very grateful I can be here and could be apart of this performance! Before then, we went streeting for hours in the pouring rain to get people to come! We met lots of fun people...haha

We had our ward Christmas party and Christmas church and of course they were both amazing! We were really trying to get lots of people to go to both, so we decided to visit some members we didn't know to invite them. We knocked on their door and introduced ourselves and invited them to both events. Through big smiles and a few chuckles, they said they were going. They then invited us in for yummy milk and cookies! (Shoutout small fry) After visiting with them for a minute, me and MacDonald shimai realized that he had joined our Sunday school lesson last week, and that they were very active members. No wonder they were so willing to come to the party they were already planning on going to... We ended up having a good time with them and listened to their fun stories! Literally the cutest old couple ever!

It has been sooooo cold and rainy here, so doing things outside have been hard. On one of the nicer days here we took a long bike ride to visit a couple that have been taught in the past. They ended up speaking perfect English and the husband was straight out of Philadelphia! It was pretty cool talking to them and ending with a message about prayer. I am not sure if things will go very far with them, but I am really hoping and praying for a miracle! 

Life has been good and I am surprisingly not very homesick with the Christmas season. It is fun getting emails from people back home and I even thank the people who have thought about sending emails, but haven't gotten around to it. I know I have a lot of support and love from back home and through the people I have met. I truly am grateful for every single one of you! The mission is hard, harder than I thought it would be. There is the culture change, language barrier, thrown into things brand new having no clue what's going on, lots of pressure. There is also the mental part of it. Not feeling equipped enough, comparing, feeling guilty for messing up, feeling you should be doing better. 

I still struggle with a lot of these things, but something I have really come to understand is how loving, merciful, forgiving, and understanding our savior is. He knows we are all just doing our best. Even if you don't feel like you are doing your best, He understands how hard life is. Give yourself some grace and be proud of how far you have come. You are always more loved than you know!!

Make it a good week everyone and have a very good merry Christmas! 

<3 Sister Peterson

12/23/2024

Christmas Sunday

Going to church on the Sunday before Christmas was a little bit sad with it just being Rylee, Kefford and I.  Plus with Kefford being Bishop and sitting on the stand that left Rylee and I by ourselves in the pews. We missed everyone who was not there, Kenedy and Ty were spending Christmas in Reno, Avynlea is in Japan and Ryker in California for a couple of days, but it was a nice Christmas service and at least we had each other. After church I made sure to get a picture of the three of us per tradition.

We got to talk to Avynlea that night and I believe it was Rylee who took a screenshot of the conversation when she had a hold of my phone. I was worried about Avynlea not being home for Christmas but she had a great attitude about it and said she was chill which helped me to feel better about not having her home. 

I found a reel that taught how to make stickers out of pictures on my iPhone and using some backgrounds I created these fun images.

Breakfast with the Bracken's

 Rykers girlfriend Anna is from Redlands California and on Saturday Ryker had planned to meet up with her and spend a few days with her and her family in California. Her Mom suggested us getting together with their family and going out to eat so we could meet each other and we thought that was a good idea. We told her breakfast would work best and they found a place for us to meet at. Heather and Mom came with us and it was a nice meet up. The kids all sat at one table and us adults/parents sat at the other table. We didn't get a picture of the adult table but Anna's Mom took a picture of the kid table and sent it to me later which was super nice of her. My kids said later that they really enjoyed the Brackens and had a lot of fun meeting them and can see them all being friends. I really enjoyed Anna's parents as well, they were super easy to talk to and it was not awkward at all.

Steven, Haley, Mack, Andi, Anna, Ryker, Tyler, Kenedy and Rylee

After breakfast and leaving Ryker with the Brackens we headed back to Moms house where we got to visit with everyone. Jeremy, Ashleighs family and Stephanie with some of her family, and Erin all came over and we were able to hang out for a good long while before we had to get to the airport. Before we left we took some pictures outside of Moms house and then it was time to say goodbye. It was a great week but I was ready to be back home in my space and back to a routine.

Abigail, Rylee, Tyler, Kenedy, Heather, Erin, Kefford, Elizabeth, Andrew Brown, Ashleigh, Dillon, Jeremy, Atticus, Bonnie, Stephanie and Anthony

Knott's Berry Farm

Friday morning our Cruise was done and we thought it would be fun to take Ryker and Rylee to Knotts Berry Farm. Kenedy and Ty had been there within the past year or so and didn't have a desire to go back. Ty's cousin picked us up from the ship was taking us to Knotts to drop is off before heading back to his house with Kenedy and Ty. I had invited anyone in my family who wanted to and were able to meet us at Knotts and Heather and Jeremy were the only takers. When I mentioned in the car that they were meeting us at the park Kenedy started getting FOMO and talked herself into buying a ticket and staying with us. Ty was good to no stay and left with his Cousin.  Jeremy and Heather were arriving a little bit later then we were and while we waited for them we got a few rides in. I am not a thrill seeker, I do not like being scared or hung upside down and as I have gotten older going on Roller Coasters really hurts my head, like serious pain. So I opted out of riding any and all Roller Coasters. Kenedy, Rylee, Kefford and Ryker went on their first coaster, HangTime, while I hung around and waited for them. 

I did say I would go on Supreme Scream which is one that lifts you up and then drops you. As soon as I sat down and it started lifting I knew this was a bad idea for me. I am also terrified of heights and this one takes you so far up before dropping you down. I just closed my eyes, held on tight, and prayed for it to be over quick. I survived and vowed to never do it again. After that ride the other four wanted to go on Xcelerator, I opted out. While they were on that ride Heather and Jeremy found me and we were reunited which was fun. 

We got a picture of us waiting in line for the Train which was a really tame ride which is also why I was willing to go on it. :)

I talked my siblings and Kenedy and Rylee into going on the air balloon ride. It was pretty evident as we were waiting in line that this was a ride for little kids and when the attendant asked us how many and we said 5 adults no kids she looked very taken aback and seemed unsure about us going on it. There is a weight limit and so we had to separate into individual baskets. It was a little embarrassing for us grown adults to get on this kiddie ride sans kids but we got some good laughs over it and Jeremy especially liked teasing me about wanting to go on this little kid ride.

While Ryker, Rylee, Kenedy, Jeremy and Heather went on another roller coaster Kefford and I got a picture with Sally and Linus.

and Rylee was able to find a little version of Snoopy before getting her picture with Charlie Brown.

After Rylee had her turn we all hopped informed a picture with good ol Chuck Brown

Heather, Rylee, Charlie Brown, Kenedy, Kefford, Elizabeth

Jeremy and Ryker

The fab five went on another Coaster and I got inline and was going to go with them but very quickly talked myself out of it and left the line to find Kefford who was in line to get a picture with Snoopy. Getting a picture with Snoopy was much more my speed and for me I made the right decision and did not feel any regret about not going on the coaster.

it was getting ;ate but Heather and Jeremy were going on another coaster and they were our rides home so we hung out in some of the shops looking at souvenirs. It was very cold and we were pretty exhausted so after Jeremy and Heather were done we were all relieved to head to the cars and go to Mom's house.

Mexico Cruise Day 4: Ensenada

We landed in Ensenada, Mexico today and after breakfast we got ourselves ready to disembark. Rylee had another cute animal towel, I could not tell if it was a bear or a pig but it looked cute whatever it was.

Ensenada was pretty disappointing. We paid $3 each to take a bus from the ship into Ensenada and it dropped us off at a really small tourist trap filled with people selling their mass produced souvenirs and it was sketchy. We got out of their and tried to figure out a destination as we were walking around. Kefford spotted a scenic overlook high up in th mountain that he wanted to hike to. It did not look like fun to me but I was game if everyone else wanted to hike. Not everyone was thrilled but we tried to play along and headed up a street to where we thought we needed to be. We walked down the street and then turned a corner to start heading up the mountain and it was steep, sooo steep. Immediately half of us stopped walking and started questioning what we were doing. Kenedy was very vocal about not wanted to hike up, she didn't have the right shoes for it and just didn't want to hike. Rylee and I were in agreement and after a slightly heated debate with the guys we decided against the hike and walked back into town. We found some statues and Ensenada signs to take pictures by and looked at some shops. Every shop had basically the same types of souvenirs and ever shop owner tried to get us to believe that they hand made all of their stuff.

We originally had planned on eating lunch in town but after looking around I changed. my mind and after a couple of hours we headed back to the ship for food and fun.

Ryker and Tyler entered a soccer tournament they recruited a random guy to be on their three person team and they got third place.

The other day we were waiting outside the door for the evening show and I spent the time waiting watching a family next to ours. They were giving off serious LDS vibes and the Grandpa in the group looked familiar to me but I figured it was just because of the LDS vibes he was giving off. The next day we were walking by an elevator and Ryker suddenly said that is Elder Wilcox getting on the elevator. We all turned to look and it was Bradley Wilcox who is First Counselor in The Young Men General Presendcy, he also happens to be the speaker of my most favorite talk at this past October General Conference...AND... he was the same guy I couldn't stop watching from the night before! It was Elder Bradley Wilcox! No wonder he looked familiar to me and no wonder he gave off LDS vibes, because He was! The guys quickly said hi to him and shook his hand but I was too shy to say anything and he was getting in the elevator so we didn't want to bother him also because ehe was on vacation with his family. Fast forward back to tonight and we were all hanging in my and Kefford's room before dinner when all the close companionship was getting too overwhelming for me and I asked Kefford to go with me on a walk. We told the kids we would meet them in the Dining room for dinner and we left. When we met back up with everyone at our table in the Dining Room they were excited to tell us that they met Elder Wilcox, were able to chat with him for a minute and got a picture. I was a little jealous that they got to meet him and I didn't but super happy that they did and that they got a picture. I probably would have bene super awkward and saying something real dumb if I would have been there so its probably best that I wasn't ;)

Knedy, Elder Wilcox, Ryker, Tyler and Rylee

Mexico Cruise Day 3: Day at Sea

 Wednesday was a day at sea. When we returned from breakfast we found another towel creation on our bed. We could not decide on what it was supposed to be and I thought maybe a Jamaican monkey, that was my best guess.

Rylee's towel was easy to decipher, a cute little elephant. He towel animal even had eyes, he was pretty cute and Rylee really liked him.

Ryker and Tyler played some pickle ball, I think it was a tournament which they did not win. They had dun playing and we had fun watching, it kept us entertained which is kind the point.

Later in the day Kefford, Rylee, Ryker and I went climbing on the rock wall. I have done this before at a girls camp many years ago and loved it, I must be getting more and more nervous as I keep getting older because I did not love this. I was fine doing the climbing it was when I had to let go and get down that scared me. I really had to talk myself into it and remind myself that little kids an do this and I can do this. I managed to jump off and the rope did catch me so I landed safely but I was really scared and did not enjoy that feeling. Kefford, Ryker and Rylee all did amazing and made it to the top, I did not and I am ok with thatElizabeth and Kefford 

Elizabeth

Rylee and Ryker

Dinner that night was delicious and we had the best waiters who were the same every night. I like that they do that so that you develop a relationship with them. We dressed up a little more for dinner this night because it was formal night. We didn't have formal clothes but we were able to scrounge up some nicer looking outfits.